In the Spotlight: Privacy Functions in SeeTec Cayuga

A sensitive and current issue

Video surveillance is omnipresent today. It is used to secure buildings, to monitor public spaces in real time or to investigate criminal offenses. In addition, in recent years video has been used for other purposes than surveillance/protection, e.g. for creating customer profiles and analyzing of buying behavior in brick and mortar stores.

Video technology and data protection

Video technology and data protection

All of these applications have sparked an ongoing social debate over how video surveillance and video analytics are compatible with the norms of a liberal society. And although the newly introduced General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) itself does not contain any specific regulations concerning video surveillance, it nevertheless maps out a framework, from which it can be inferred how to set up a compliant video surveillance.

As one of the leading providers of video management systems, SeeTec is aware of its responsibility for ensuring privacy protection by offering specific features that are already firmly integrated into its software. The possibilities in SeeTec Cayuga to implement privacy in video surveillance can be combined with many other concepts and adapted to the needs of each individual case in order to achieve the best possible balance between data protection and functionality.

How to ensure privacy with SeeTec Cayuga?

Whether at the workplace or in the area of video surveillance of public squares and streets: two functions already built into SeeTec Cayuga offer privacy protection: motion scrambling and privacy masking. Both work right out of the box, need no special hardware, no complex integration of third-party programs and thus can help keeping costs down.

Watch the video below to see how both software features work in action:

What is Motion Scrambling?

A specially developed filter blurs moving people/vehicles in the live video feed. Thus, the privacy of the individuals entering the field of vision of a respective camera is maintained at all times. Actions remain recognizable, but the acting persons or vehicles are not. The original images are recorded in the unfiltered version. The size of the pixelation and also the sensitivity can be set separately for each camera via various parameters.

What is Privacy Masking?

Sensitive image areas are concealed by a freely definable mask and hidden in the live and archive image depending on the legal context. Both the color and the opacity of the mask can be adjusted, so that here too, actions can still be recognized while at the same time protecting the privacy of the acting individuals.

Did you know ...

Did you know ...

... that in SeeTec Cayuga each user can be given individual and detailed user rights?

Hierarchically structured administration ensures that no unauthorized person has access to the unmasked or non-pixelated images.

Tap Into Hidden Potential

As a pioneer in network-based video surveillance, SeeTec has developed video management software, which can be adapted to the individual needs of particular customers and industries.